Preparing to sell our house is proving more difficult than I would have imagined - not the actual selling, but PREPARING to sell. The house must be clean. The little projects must be finished. The closets must be cleaned out and organized. The windows should be washed (notice I said "should" - I don't know if we'll get that far). Extraneous matter should be thrown out so that clutter disappears. The kitchen should be scrubbed until it gleams.
All of this is overwhelming. It's as if we are getting ready to move without putting anything in boxes.
And then, when we start the "little projects," others raise their ugly heads. A few years ago, one of our sewer pipes broke - it was a clay pipe from 1937 - and we had to dig down to replace it. To do that required that we break up and remove part of a 12-foot sidewalk that led from the driveway to the back door. We have always meant to replace it, but never have. We really wanted to design a more attractive and inventive walkway, but we never could find anyone who was interested in envisioning something different. So we gave in - a sidewalk it is. But who will pour the concrete?
Finding someone to construct the thing was head-spinning. First, one must get bids - many bids. Then, one chooses the person. Then the two of you must put together a schedule. And it turns out that he can't do the project right away through no fault of his. So the sidewalk waits.
Then we cleaned the shower surround so that it would be pristine white (why I didn't want it pristine white for me is beyond me). As we cleaned, we found a few cracks in the grout that meant we need to re-grout the whole thing. Fortunately, a reliable handyman is able to get to that chore within the next week.
The next step is polishing the kitchen. I confess to being afraid to go in there, because who knows what we will find that must be done? But go in we will, and we hope that it is just the next step as opposed to the next three steps.
Slowly but surely, the beautiful house at 1020 South Barrett is being brought to its finest - just in time for a new family.
All of this is overwhelming. It's as if we are getting ready to move without putting anything in boxes.
And then, when we start the "little projects," others raise their ugly heads. A few years ago, one of our sewer pipes broke - it was a clay pipe from 1937 - and we had to dig down to replace it. To do that required that we break up and remove part of a 12-foot sidewalk that led from the driveway to the back door. We have always meant to replace it, but never have. We really wanted to design a more attractive and inventive walkway, but we never could find anyone who was interested in envisioning something different. So we gave in - a sidewalk it is. But who will pour the concrete?
Finding someone to construct the thing was head-spinning. First, one must get bids - many bids. Then, one chooses the person. Then the two of you must put together a schedule. And it turns out that he can't do the project right away through no fault of his. So the sidewalk waits.
Then we cleaned the shower surround so that it would be pristine white (why I didn't want it pristine white for me is beyond me). As we cleaned, we found a few cracks in the grout that meant we need to re-grout the whole thing. Fortunately, a reliable handyman is able to get to that chore within the next week.
The next step is polishing the kitchen. I confess to being afraid to go in there, because who knows what we will find that must be done? But go in we will, and we hope that it is just the next step as opposed to the next three steps.
Slowly but surely, the beautiful house at 1020 South Barrett is being brought to its finest - just in time for a new family.
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